Hitchin’ A Ride

When I showed a picture of my newest wheel I sort of forgot that not everyone has access to the fabulous Dave. Therefore, some of you are not familiar with his reproductions of Canadian Production Wheels, his restoration of antique wheels, and his charming little HitchHiker Wheel. You can read all about it here.

I must admit it’s taken me some time to adjust to this little wheel. First, I couldn’t get her to treadle consistently in a clockwise direction. Then I couldn’t get the tension adjusted right. Either the fiber wasn’t getting enough twist and it was falling apart or it was getting sucked right out of my hand and winding on too quickly. I actually put the wheel in time out for a week because I was getting so frustrated. It was hard to resist her cute little thumb, but I managed.

Monday afternoon, though, I started to rally a bit from my cold and I could hear her calling me to spin again. I moved her over in front of the couch and started to spin. I was still having trouble so I finally did the first thing I should have done. I stopped spinning with the mystery fiber I had grabbed on Christmas and I started spinning with some BFL instead. Suddenly, everything clicked. The treadling was easy, the wheel spun in the right direction, and the twist was just right. I do believe that the BFL has magical qualities and I need to remember this when I’m adjusting to a new wheel.
See? It’s not as thin as I usually get but I’m making yarn with my new wheel and that’s a good, good thing.

Since I intended this wheel to be my travel wheel, I brought her to spinning at the library last night. She sure is easier to haul around than my Reeves Saxony or even the Lendrum. Luckily, the time I had spent with her in the afternoon paid off and allowed me to spin without embarrassment.

Now she needs a name. I generally take the “brand” name of the wheel and use the same first letter as inspiration for the personal name I choose. That’s how I wound up with Alice the Ashford, Lucy the Lendrum, Rosie the Reeves and Tallulah the Toika. Abigail, my Canadian Production Wheel, is the exception to that rule. Her name was chosen because the woman I bought the wheel from is a docent at the Abigail Adams House and it seemed right to honor both women in naming the wheel.

So, what’s it going to be? Right now I’m leaning towards Hazel but I’m open to suggestions.